In a significant judgement, the Kerala High Court on Friday struck down Section 10A of the Indian Divorce Act, which prescribes a waiting period of 1 year for filing a petition for divorce by mutual consent.
Kerala High Court struck down Section 10A of the Indian Divorce Act
A division bench of Justices A Muhammad Mustaque and Shoba Annamma Appen observed that the mandatory waiting period affects the right to liberty of citizens, in this case Christian citizens to whom the Indian Divorce Act applies.
The bench said, “We are of the firm view that when one’s freedom to act as per one’s wish is taken away, without any process to secure the consequences of such restrictions, the law would become repressive.”
The bench clarified that the provision has struck down because of the impact on the rights of citizens and not the fact that there are differences in mandatory waiting periods in other personal laws.
The court said “We hold that the fixation of minimum period of separation of one year as prescribed under section 10A is violative of the fundamental right and accordingly, set it aside.”
The bench also observed that even though the legislature may have good intentions in prescribing the waiting period, it curtails the rights of the spouses to judicial remedies who face hardships during the waiting period.
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